The Boy Beyond the Looking Glass
by Trumane
Summary: Take a journey with the Titans as they try and unravel the secrets behind their interesting new house guest. Rated T for my paranoia..
1. boy beyond the looking glass

**Disclamier:** I don't own anything Teen Titans or DC comic related. There will be several OC's and although I do not have _legal_ ownership of them, I would appreciate not having them stolen. They are after all, MY creations...

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**_The Boy Beyond the Looking Glass_**

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A cloaked figure had been terrorizing Jump City citizens for several hours. Apparently, he was grabbing people and screaming at them how _'Nothing is true!' _and how _'Everything will change soon!'_. His screaming soon escalated into an onslaught of battery charges as he attempted to forcibly _'stop those from silencing the truth' _as he so eloquently put it. The Titans were dispatched to his location within moments of his escapade.

After a small bout and a few superhero quips, he was detained. The quiet sound of rubber heels grinding against pavement echoed throughout the empty street. Cyborg dragged the seemingly harmless man by his collar towards an awaiting police vehicle.

As the man was dragged, he hung his head downward in defeat with his once boisterous voice eerily silenced. Robin walked directly behind the two keeping a close eye on the delirious man, the light patter of his steel tipped boots harmonizing with the louder clatter of Cyborg's large metal feet.

As they approached one of the police cars, a strobe of blue and red engulfed Robin's vision temporarily blinding him. _"Why they keep these lights on even AFTER we catch the bad guy is beyond me."_ Instinctively Robin brought his gloved hand to his eyes, shielding himself from the torrent of light.

When his pupils adjusted he lowered his hand letting his eyes meet the crazed mans now upturned gaze. Mind you, when the titans first saw this guy, they thought nothing of him. He honestly seemed and acted like a quack. But something about the look he was giving him now, was certainly contradicting his previous self. No longer did the man's demeanor give off a feeling of hysteria or insanity. No, he now wore a look of coldness and radiated callous. His eyes held a calculating stare, peering beyond Robin's mask mentally scrapping at the recesses of his mind.

The man's lips upturned in a small smirk and proceeded to part, _"Psycho-Evaluation treatment… Subject… 279-38C… Day 14… Resume…"_ He spoke, in a raspy low voice.

"Here you go officer, he's pretty harmless, so ya'll shouldn't have any problems with him." Cyborg spoke as he handed several officers the public disturbance. As the man was pushed into the police car, he glanced ever so carefully to a nearby window, as if he were acknowledging someone's existence.

Robin took immediate notice to the mans change in behavior as well as his cryptic utterance. He stared dumbfounded at his strange new attitude, captivated by the transformation. Just a few moments ago the guy was acting fanatical. Now he was behaving like he had some sort of plan or some rational motive behind his actions.

His eyebrows drew together in contemplation as he attempted to decipher the strange guy's words. But, when the man's attention quickly shifted elsewhere, his thoughts were cut short. Robin followed the path of his eyes and stopped at the store window. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the pane.

It was just a clean window to a jewelry store. The shop was closed and it was nearly impossible to see through the glass with the darkness that dwelled beyond them. Robin scanned the window for any noticeable differences, his eyes scrutinizing every inch of the crazed man's current fascination.

"Hold on guys." Robin spoke. He walked towards the window, trying to find a clue as to what peaked the man's interest. But, he could see nothing, it was just a window. He frowned slightly, almost disappointed in not finding some remarkable yet subtle clue as to what had the man's attention.

His eyes wondered from the top to the bottom of the glass, only halting to look at his barely visible reflection displayed in the window. It was then that he began to notice a small change. His eyes squinted as he tried to adjust his gaze. Ever so slowly, he turned his gaze to the left and then quickly to the right, he stopped and glanced behind himself, and then returned his gaze to the window.

"Dude, is it me, or is Robin acting even more paranoid than usual?" The green Titan stated, flailing his hands frantically in mock irritation.

"Friend Robin does seem a bit… tense… I wonder what troubles him."

Robin stole a glance at Beast Boy, his lips pursing together enforcing his low tolerance for jokes at the moment. There was something very strange going on, and he needed to handle the situation. He glanced at the window once more to find the source of his confusion. His reflection was no longer visible in the glass. But, something was very noticeable within.

It looked as though there was a… bug… no, a small person beyond the glass? Whatever it was, it was getting bigger at a steady rate. It was almost as if something was coming… towards him? _'This can't be right, it looks like someone's maybe falling? But… we're at ground level and no one's behind me.'_

His eyes narrowed, and he slowly raised a hand to touch the window. By now, the cops were wheeling away the lunatic to a physiciatric hospital to test for mental stability. The figure was getting bigger, now at an alarming rate, whatever was going on, something was going to happen soon.

"Titans! Be on your guard, something's headed for us, and its coming fast!" Robin braced himself for impact and watched the glass patiently for the figure to end its descent.

The Titans quickly took to their leader's flank.

"What is it? What's coming?" Said Raven, her eyes darting cautiously, straining to make contact with some form of immediate danger.

Robin continued staring at the glass, the feeling of unease growing within him.

"I'm not… entirely sure…" Robin honestly had no idea what to make of this, it looked like someone was falling towards them, but if that was a reflection than someone would have to be actually plunging towards them from the opposite direction. No one was around save for the Titans at this point. The area was pretty lifeless, so how on Earth was someone 'falling' towards them?

A sequence of assumptions and ideas ran through the leaders head, but no sooner did he start formulating an idea of what was going on, did the glass start vibrating furiously.

A _gasp,_ several stares, some quick turns, and a "_What the?"_ later, and suddenly the glass shattered. Robin's eyes widened as the figure was given life right before his eyes. No longer an image on glass creating the allusion of someone falling aimlessly towards the windowpane; but now a fully realized person falling aimlessly towards… well, him. The figure came with blistering speed through the glass, inertia clearly being on their side, right towards a flabbergasted Titan.

In a desperate attempt to catch the figure, Robin's arms shot open, hoping that he would be able to stop their movement and prevent them from injuring themselves on their inevitable impact with the ground. But the force behind this 'falling star' of a person was akin to punch worthy of Cinderblock. When the figure made contact, Robin was sent tumbling backwards, the wind having been knocked clean out of him with a sickening _omf_! They rolled several times finally stopping about a meter and a half away from their initial position.

"ROBIN!" Starfire yelled, quickly flying over to her fallen comrade.

Robin lay on the ground, clutching his head in pain. '_That's going to leave a nice size bruise'_ he thought. Turning his head and carefully positing himself, he made an attempt to look at the figure who pretty much used him as a human air bag.

Black, that's all he could make out from the contorted angle in which they both lay. Short black hair, and maybe… glasses? That's about all he could see. He then lifted his gaze from the newcomer towards his worried red haired friend and put on a forced smile.

"Don't worry Star, I'm fine. Who… or what just hit me?" Robin added, suddenly realizing that whatever just hit him may not necessarily be human.

Starfire brought herself to one knee and carefully shifted the being that lay sprawled across Robin's torso. He watched her expression shift from curiosity to elation and then quickly dart to concern in all but a minute.

"Robin… it is a person… and I believe he is injured, he is bleeding profusely!" She stated while looking into the closed eyes of an unconscious boy.

"Star, do you think you can give him a lift to the infirmary? We'll meet you there as soon as we can." Robin took on his calm disposition, making sure that he handled the situation as delicately as possible. He was a little shaken by having some guy flung at him through a window, one of which that had no people on the other side of it.

But now wasn't the time for him to be concerned with himself. With his trademark phrase the remaining teens packed themselves into the T-Car quickly trailing after Starfire. The entire ride home, no one said a word, who could? Even in their world it was strange, this _boy beyond the looking glass_…

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**Welp, that's the first part. I don't know, I feel like I kind of rushed things. I want this to go smoother and not have the story fist fed ya know? And BOY does this seem short! Or is it my imagination? (6_6)**

**This isn't my first fic but it IS the first one I'm posting and having reviewed and what not.**

**I'm going to try and make chapters as often as possible but I'm a slow typer and I tend to redo the same chapter several times over.**

**Please Rate and Review!**


	2. new house guest

The smell of antiseptic and various chemicals flooded Starfire's nostrils. She didn't necessarily hate being in the infirmary, but it certainly wasn't her favorite place to be in the world. The various needles and x-ray machines made her cringe inwardly.

She had flown as fast as her body would allow getting the injured boy to the Tower; arriving well before any of the other Titans. She managed to wipe the blood from the boy's head and face, which contained several cuts produced from shards of glass.

This required her to take off the rectangular glasses he was wearing. When her hand brushed against his cheek she nearly dropped his corrective lenses to the floor in surprise, muttering several apologies after doing so.

She walked towards an empty countertop, free of syringes and bacterial soap, and laid the glasses down folding the thick black legs so they say neatly upright. Afterwards she found herself drifting to the doorway, waiting for her friends to return.

The boy laid unconscious on one of several hospital beds. The slight beeping of a heartbeat monitor breaking the silence as she stood leaned against the door frame waiting in anticipation for the others to arrive. She nervously played with her hair as she lingered, uncertain of what action to take.

She looked around the dimly lit room trying desperately not to stare at her house guest. Unable to stray for very long, she found herself staring back at the boy. He laid dreadfully still, feigning death had it not been for the steady rhythm of his chest rising and falling.

Starfire visibly _sighed_ and began to pounder about the boys well being and origins. _"Ohh, I do hope he is unharmed! He came through the window rather quickly and scared us all. I wonder if his place of residence is near?" _

It took only a few moments for her thoughts to venture on to whether or not this newcomer will be her friend and all the implications that would produce. A sudden spike in the heartbeat monitor tossed her from her thoughts forcing her by the boy's side once more.

She looked towards the doorway in the hopes that Cyborg or Raven would be coming through to help with the matter. Her salvation came in the form of a black portal appearing beside her, producing the Titan's hooded enchantress.

"How are his vitals and injuries?" Said Raven, pulling her traditional hood back revealing her moon-kissed complexion and shoulder length hair. Starfire, who at the time was unaware if her friends entrance, jumped in surprise with an _eep_ ecaping her lips.

Starfire inwardly took another _sigh _of relief, thanking her good fortune that someone had arrived to help her. "He is… stable, but I am unsure what to do further. He seems to be deep in sleep and I am unable to awaken him."

"Hmm, his body may be responding to the physical trauma of being flung through the glass. Robin may have been able to stop him from hitting the ground and breaking a bone, but he was moving way faster than normal. Almost like…" She then trailed off and shook her head in disbelief.

"_It looked like he was moving at terminal velocity, but that can't be possible, he would've have to have fallen from a great height to achieve such speeds… he came horizontally through a window for goodness sake!"_

Raven then moved her hand towards the boy closing her eyes and began uttering her mantra.

"Friend Raven… what are you-"

"I'm going to heal him and then search his mind for some answers. Hopefully I'll be able to find out how he ended up plastered over our fearless leader."

Starfire gave an uncertain nod and began walking towards the infirmary doors. She understood that healing wasn't her expertise and that Raven was more suited for this sort of work. She stopped in the doorway and peeked over her shoulder at the boy once more, his form hidden beneath a mass of hospital sheets; allowing only his face to peer from beneath them.

Turning back once again she walked out the door and into the hallway to discuss his condition with the rest of her teammates.

* * *

Raven moved her hand towards the boy's face carefully placing her index finger and middle finger to his crown. She closed her eyes and spoke her mantra, allowing a small hue of light to produce from her eyes and hand.

The cuts that littered the boys face slowly clotted and closed. Satisfied with her work, she then found herself staring, soaking in his facial features. Because Starfire had essentially buried the boy in a cocoon of blankets, only his neck and head were visible. His skin a light brown, border-lining golden if Raven had to guess. His eyes were closed so she had no clue what color they were, but his extremely short hair was distinct; he was most likely at least partly of African American decent.

From his jaw line, to his cheek bones, his characteristics were light and gave the appearance of youth along with a pair of dimples. _'He's kind of…cute really-" _Raven's face grew hot and turned several shades lighter with a noticeable blush. 'Cute' Raven didn't think people were 'cute', especially not random guys who come from windows!

Quickly dismissing the thought, she closed her eyes and began reaching her soul self into his mind. The once white light emitting from her hand slowly morphed to a shade of black. The energy swirled and moved with a mind of its own, caressing the young man's forehead as she tried to see into his mind.

In her mind's eye she could see nothing; it was dark all around her. She tried to move forward, reaching out to try and grasp at an emotion or a memory. _"This must be what it's like inside Beast Boy's mind, a void of darkness…"_ Raven droned, annoyed at her lack of visual stimulation.

She pushed forward, moving randomly in the dark with no indication of a direction to go. "Perfect, I try to read his mind and I get-_smack_!" Raven halted all movement as she ran head first into some sort of surface. "…ow…" Raven brought her face to her hands, caressing the bridge of her aching nose with her finger tips.

"What did I hit?" Raven's soul self looked forward in an attempt to see the source of her pain. She frowned in the darkness and reached out, a tactile surface sending signs to her hands that she indeed hit something, and it was pretty solid.

"Well… I found a wall of sorts, now if only I could see-" Before she finished her sentence a sparkle caught her eye. _"Light?"_ She thought as she leaned downwards to face the spot her hand previously occupied.

Two sparkles, a single sparkle, several sparkles in random succession, suddenly the wall began to illuminate; a brilliant light filled the dark plane that had once inhabited the boys mind. Raven lurched back falling to her tailbone, startled by the change in scenery.

When the bright glow became constant and her eyes adjusted, her mouth went wide in amazement.

"…Oh my- is 'this' what I hit?"

* * *

"Based on Star's description, he may be in a coma. We're going to need to keep an eye on him until he recovers."

"Duude! Why are we even taking care of him? They make hospitals for this sort-a-thing don't they?" Beast Boy wined, clearly unhappy with having to possibly watch the unconscious lad.

"What makes you think we were gunna ask a string bean like you to watch him anyway?" Cyborg spoke in a teasing tone, poking the small green changeling as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Hey! I'm totally capable of watching someone!" He then morphed into a hawk producing a loud _squawk_ for emphasis.

"You couldn't watch a rock if it was glued to your face!" Cyborg egged on.

"Friends please, we mustn't fight, while the boy of windows lies unconscious in our home!" Starfire now becoming a physical obstacle between the arguing teens.

"Star's right, and the decision is final. He's staying here until he gets better. We also need to question him about how he got here, coming from a window doesn't really classify as normal behavior."

Robin then turned to his metal friend and spoke, "Me and Cyborg will try to take some tests to make sure he's in tip top shape, you and Star get some rest for the night. If he's not up later tomorrow, I'll schedule shifts to watch him."

"YES! No people watching for this guy!" Beast Boy cheered pumping his fist into the air. After a moment of celebration he took off to his bedroom, mumbling words of self praise as he traveled.

Starfire was the next to leave, more reluctant to go then her green counterpart. She didn't feel 'responsible' per say, but she was slightly miffed that she was unable to do much for the boy.

Robin quickly noticed her saddened expression and tried to give her words of encouragement, "Star he'll be fine, I'm sure the guy just needs to rest, he'll be up and talking soon… ok?" Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he spoke.

Starfire's face brightened, her optimism suddenly making a return, "Oh I am certain you are right! I shall awaken early tomorrow to fix him a Tamaranian meal of welcoming!" With a _giggle_ and a twirl, she floated off to her room leaving the two boys alone in the hallway.

"Maan, if that guy wakes up tomorrow he may just end up back in a coma." Cyborg spoke, weary from the last meal his bubbly friend forced him to ingest.

Robin cringed at the thought of some concoction she would produce smothered in mustard. He pushed the thought from his mind and began to walk towards the infirmary.

"Let's just start these tests so we can see what's going on with our guest's health."

The two teens ventured towards the infirmary when a loud _thud_ and several swear words came from inside…

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**There goes chapter two, I really am rushing this, maybe I should take more time to write these? That's two already in the same day! (well technically one since the first chapter I've been writing for like three days (-_-) )**

**What did Raven see?**

**What was the sound coming from the infirmary?**

**Guess you'll have to Review, Rate, and tune in for the next chapter (^-^)**


	3. the strange gets stranger

_Authors note: ok, so the other two chapters felt rushed to me and didn't have much plot advancement so I'm slowing things down and adding more content… if that makes sense to anyone other than myself haha._

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Robin turned to Cyborg with eyes the size of dinner plates. The two teens held each other's gaze for a moment, both searching for some form of acknowledgement from the other confirming the sounds they just heard coming from the currently occupied infirmary.

Cyborg immediately broke the silence, "What was-"

Robin took no more time to dawdle and made a mad dash for the door with Cyborg in hot pursuit. He began to visibly shrink as he neared the door, lowering his center of gravity as he sprinted, preparing to release the pent up kinetic energy storing in his joints.

His nose dipped as he crouched closer to the ground, and with an explosive thrust, he propelled himself upwards allowing inertia to carry him through the door. Using his shoulder as a battering ram, the door flung open with Robin blasting through it.

"Raven!" The boy wonder yelled, prepared to make a quick assessment of the room ensuring his teammates safety. Behind him Cyborg stood, sonic cannon charging, making a high pitched whine as he took aim.

The sight that greeted the battle ready teens was… unexpected to say the least. Raven sat, legs sprawled, on the floor. She rubbed her lower back with the palm of her hand, which caused her to tightly close here eyes and scrunch her nose in a look of pain.

"Raven, are you alright? What happened?" Robin began interrogating immediately.

Raven cracked open an eye to take a glance at her approaching teammate only to close her eye once again in pain. She took the hand that caressed her lower back and pointed towards the hibernating boy laying in the hospital bed.

She _groaned_ and spoke in her monotone voice, "HE happened."

By this time Cyborg had taken a position next to the fallen Titan and lowered his hand so it was eye level with her.

"Don't tell me you and sleeping beauty here got into an argument." Cyborg smirked at his lighthearted joke which earned him a death glare. She shook her head and clutched onto his invitation to be lifted up. His strong pull quickly bringing her to her feet, nearly causing her to fall back to her tailbone due to the nauseating change in altitude.

She causally dusted a few specs of nonexistent dust from her cloak switching her standing position as she allowed the weight of her upper body to rest on her now outturned hip. Glancing upwards from Cyborg to Robin she parted her lips and began to speak, "This kid… whoever he is… is nothing short of strange…"

Raven calling someone else strange, now that peeked Robin's interest.

"How so?" Spoke the caped crusader.

"Well, for starters, he has a mental defense unlike any I've ever encountered. But it's not intentional at all. His mind is an unfathomable maze to put it lightly."

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

The black silhouette of Raven's soul self stood in awe of the magnificent sight that had just been uncovered. Initially, she was unable to find anything of any sort within the strangers mind. She floated amongst the darkness in the hopes that she would eventually fall upon something.

When the dimness of his mind faded into a brilliant light, Raven was left at a loss for words. Her personal mindscape was a dark and ominous place. Black skies littered with random crimson stars suffocated most of what the eye could see. The only means of transportation were floating rocks leading to her splintered emotions walking about, physical manifestations of her personality.

As much as she hated agreeing with Beast Boy, her mind was kind of… creepy. But this guys psyche was nothing she was fimiliar with. His mind was a labyrinth. Various arch ways and halls reminiscent of M.C. Escher's, "Relativity". Stairways and doors were littered everywhere at impossible angles creating a very paradoxical theme. The strangest thing of all being, that everything was visible from where she stood.

The entire maze with see-through, with every surface crystalline in appearance. Raven stroked the nearest 'wall' assuming that it was such and not just an adjacent stairwell defying the laws of physics. It was cool to the touch, smooth, but rigid, as if she could strike it and it would shatter away.

"Like diamond…" Raven mused, captivated by the spectacle she observed.

"I retract my previous statement; this is probably what Batman's mind is like."

Arching slightly to her left, she made a trail along the diamond like surface with her outspread fingers. The smooth feel of the wall gently rubbing her fingertips as she attempted to find an entrance to the maze. She floated for several meters looking through the kaleidoscope walls and floors, hoping her hand would fall from a solid surface into open air.

"This is ridiculous, I'm within arm's reach of his mind and still cannot gain access to his memories or thoughts."

She floated up towards what appeared to be a stairwell sitting neatly on its side, which was subsequently connected to a hallway that distorted several corridors and adjacent stairs in a cluster of geometric shapes and sparkles. Placing both hands on the solid surface that blocked her path from entering the maze she pushed, willing her soul self to penetrate the wall.

"_Grr_, come… on… you… jus-just… BUDGE!" She yelled, desperately trying to gain access.

_Click clack click clack_

Raven stiffened, the sound of footsteps could be heard below her. She glanced downwards searching for the source of the auditory nuisance. A figure had emerged from the outer hemisphere of his mind. Although she was able to see thanks to the light show the labyrinth produced, darkness still surrounded the remaining space. The figure emerged from the shadows and strode swiftly towards the maze.

_"This is probably his subconscious, he'll know how to get in."_

The figure made its way to the maze stopping just several feet away from the seemingly impenetrable wall. Raven took this opportunity to float closer towards him, deducing that she may have a small window of opportunity to get in. If all else failed, she figured she'd ask his subconscious directly.

The figure was blurry to look at, even within feet from his proximity. It was as if he existed, but as a shade, a shadow, lurking amongst the darkness. His silhouette reminded her of her soul self, but less solid and more gaseous in nature. Gradually, the figure moved a dark arm towards the wall, outstretching its apparently clenched hand to touch the translucent surface.

He stopped inches away from reaching his destination, hesitating to make contact. His fingers curled slightly, as if he was reconsidering the gesture. Dropping his hand back down to his side he raised his head to look at the upper regions of the network of stairs and hallways.

_"Does he… not know how to get in himself? No, it's more like… more like he won't LET himself enter… I wonder-"_ Raven's soul self jumped in surprise as her train of thought was derailed by the sudden stare she recieved from the shrouded subconscious.

"He-hello, my name is Raven… " Slowly bringing herself down to the 'surface' she landed. The figure watched her, contorting his neck and straining to look at her without turning to face her… which was odd considering he had no visible eyes or even a face for that matter.

The figure than cocked his head to the side, imitating confusion, taking it upon himself to turn to face her at this point.

"I'm sure you're wondering how or why I am here, I-_ ack_!"

She never got the chance to finish, the figure had lunged forward with blistering speed, enveloping her neck with his shadowed hand. She struggled and gasped for air, a strange experience in her soul form, but painful nonetheless.

She clawed at his grip finding it increasingly more difficult to breath let alone speak. The figure than lifted her slightly off the ground allowing her to dangle and pulling her within a hairs distance of his 'face'. He held her for a moment, head still slightly cocked, possibly examining the intruder trying to decipher her reason for being there.

Slowly his head became erect, and his grip loosened. Raven welcomed the incoming air… only to have it completely knocked from her. He slammed Raven's soul self violently into the diamond wall with a sickening _crack_. Finally letting her go as she slide down the wall to a sitting position.

She heaved and coughed, trying desperately to pull herself together. The figure took two steps back and kneeled so he could become eye level with her. Raven took this brief opportunity to expel herself from his mind, opting to leave before the aggressive figure attacked her any further.

Her hand reeled from the boy's forehead, sucking her soul self rapidly back into her body. The quick action caused her to fly backwards landing back first into a nearby defibrillator and then falling to her butt. A similar position to her previously slouched form within the boys mind.

"Ouch! Damn it!" She swore, her back aching from violently striking the medical device.

Moments later the boys entered…

* * *

"Can't be any worse then your mind…" Coughed out Cyborg earning him another death glare. With a chuckle and a few stuttered words stating he'd _'go prep some medical equipment for tests', _he took off, leaving the two Titans to their own devices.

Robin looked from Raven to the boy in silent contemplation. When his masked eyes met back with Raven's purple orbs, he spoke, "What's so strange about his mind?"

Raven switched hips, finding her current standing position uncomfortable and reached for the rim of her downed hood. She lightly tugged on the fabric bringing it up so it sat neatly on her scalp, shrouding most of her features. She looked away from her leader as she retorted, "He's human."

To this Robin raised a brow, "How do you figure?"

Never taking her eyes off him she responded, "A human's mind is… simple… your memories, thoughts, feelings… they all float aimlessly for the most part. Occasionally, people's mind may take a shape, a 'mindscape' which usually is an indication as to what kind of person you truly are…"

Robin crossed his arms as he listened, urging her to continue.

"It's not uncommon for people to have their subconscious roaming their mind or having settings reminiscent to somewhere personal or familiar to themselves. But, his mind was… strange… like I said."

Robin raised both brows, "Okkk, how was it strange?"

"He didn't have a typical mindscape… it wasn't traversable, nor could I interact with any of his thoughts or memories… Are you familiar with mental defense?"

Robin allowed his arms to drop, now sitting at his sides, "Training to keep your mind from being accessed by unwanted guests. I've tackled a few sessions under my tutelage with Batman. What does that have to do with this?"

Raven turned her gaze towards Robin, now fully facing him, "He doesn't have that… mental defense is less of a shield and more of an electric fence for the mind. It repels outsiders, not allowing them to enter at all… I was able to enter his mind… I just couldn't READ it."

"Due to it being un-traversable?"

"That… and inaccessible…"

Robin reached his hand towards the back of his head and scratched nervously, "Raven, you're still not making a lot of sense, how does that prove he's human or why you couldn't read his mind?"

"His mind and memories are sealed Robin… His subconscious seems to want access to them but can't for some reason. Although his mind is the strangest thing I've ever seen, his memories still floated about along with his thoughts and feelings. I just couldn't reach them due to his mind being a bigger maze than Beast Boy's bedroom."

To this Robin smirked, it was only occasional when Raven made a joke, but they always seemed to lighten the mood in a dark satire like manner. Placing his hand that was once fastened to his head now on her shoulder he smiled.

"I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about. When he wakes up he might have some answers for all of us."

Raven produced the smallest of smiles, which almost went unnoticed. Her eyes suddenly squinted as her mouth opened generously letting out a deep yawn. She quickly placed a hand over her gapping lips and then dropped it once her ritual subsided.

"You should get some rest, I'm sure that took a lot out of you, me and Cy will handle the night shift."

Raven's eyes expressed gratitude while her face remained static. She stole a glance at the boy once more before muttering a thank you and proceeded to the exit.

Robin turned to the boy and stared. _"Who are you?"_

"Equipments all set, all I need is for you to attach an IV drip." The cybernetic teen spoke, taking the goth girls absence as an opportunity to return.

"Is he dehydrated or something? He looks fine." Robin responded looking from Cyborg towards the boy and back again.

"He may LOOK fine, but we have no way of knowing for sure. Raven may think he's human, but I'm not hoping aboard that train till I've taken some tests… Which will require the drip!"

"Alright alright, calm down tin man."

Robin reached towards a clean syringe and an IV that had already been assembled. After several minutes of attaching various wires and tubes to the boys head and arm, a series of tests was undergone. Robin knew only the essentials when it came to medical tests, enough to check himself for injuries or diseases. He took a seat at one of the chairs that sat neatly around the room in proximity to their house guest.

Hours went by and midnight was on the horizon. Robin was starting to get tired and the heartbeat monitor transformed from an annoying sound to a serene lullaby. His head would drop and then shoot back up several times, sleep attempting to overcome him. It wasn't until Cyborg broke a long silence that he sat up straight and was aroused from his mid-slumber.

"Hey Rob, you may want to take a look at this." Cyborg was sitting at a long table consisting of several microscopes and two large monitors. As the boy wonder approached he pulled one of the large screens so it faced them both more directly.

"You see this?" He stated, pointing at a dot amongst a sea of similar looking dots.

Robin's brow furrowed into a small look of frustration, "What am I looking at?"

"This, this right here, is carbon." After clicking on a mouse set off to the side, the screen changed to reveal larger balls connected via lines.

"Carbon is what makes up, just about everything as you may know. This is an image of a regular ol' carbon atom within someone's epidermis. But 'this'… is HIS." He finished using his free hand to point at the boy as other hand fiddled with the mouse causing the screen to split displaying two images.

Robin looked carefully between the two, noticing that the arrangement of the atoms was slightly different in the new image.

"What's that mean?"

"Well, for starters, it explains why it hurt you so much when he hit you."

Robin visibly winced, rubbing his chest as he remembered the earlier impact.

"His atoms are arranged in a tetrahedrally bonded manner."

Cyborg looked from the screen to Robin, his red eye causing a light streak in the dimly lit room.

"What like graphite?"

"No… like DIAMOND! This guy's entire body is like that. But not just any average diamond, I also found high levels of hydrogen surrounding the carbon. This is prevalent in dwarf stars when they supernova."

Robin's brow rose for what felt like the tenth time that day in interest. He looked over the monitor to the boy and stared. _"If this kid is human… he's definitely not a normal one…" _

_Beep beep beep_. A quick crescendo of noise brought the metal man's attention towards his left forearm.

"Woah, I'm running pretty low on juice. Give me a minute, I'll go grab my extended battery charger." Cyborg rose from his sitting position stretching his joints as he did so.

"Don't worry about it, we've done enough for one night. Let's get some shut eye and tackle this in the morning after some well deserved rest."

Robin was pooped, his bones ached from sitting for so many hours and he longed for his bed. He figured that a few hours sleep would do them both some good and hopefully in the meantime, their resident sleep-a-holic would finally awaken.

The two cleaned up, putting away used equipment and shutting off most of the lights save for one emergency light in the center of the room. Cyborg muttered a quiet "_night." _As he ventured towards his bedroom. Robin was the last to leave, who found himself looking at the boy from across the room.

"Hopefully you'll be up tomorrow so we can try and figure this out."

With a flick of his wrist the door closed behind him, leaving their patient to sleep, the quiet beeping of a heartbeat monitor being the only indication of the life inside…

* * *

**Well that's it for this chapter. Titans had enough for one evening and are going to bed!**

**Made this one nearly double what the last chapter was in terms of length. Again, I don't want to fist feed you info every chapter, but spoon feeding you the story isn't gunna cut it either!**

**Hopefully your being entertained, as usual rate and review**

**who knows, maybe he'll wake up next chapter (9.9) ...**


	4. unfimiliar surroundings

Weightlessness, sheer unadulterated free fall. The wind barreling past his scalp causing his clothes to ripple and shake as he fell. Falling, he was falling, he was unsure how he ended up here, hadn't this already happened?

"_Why… am I falling?" _Thought the boy.

There were no sights to behold, no structures to be hurdled past as his body plunged onward. It was dark, the only comforting disruption in the monotony of his situation coming from the sensation of wind flowing around him.

He fell, for what seemed like hours. He thought of very little, finding it difficult to formulate an idea whilst descending. He merely fell, and allowed inertia to take him were it saw fit. It was only when he heard a loud _tick_ did he began panicking.

_Tick tick tick._ The sound radiated through the surrounding darkness, reverberating in his skull. The sound became louder over time, becoming a deep bellow and causing the boy great pain.

"_What is that? Where is that coming from?"_

He reached out hoping to grasp the sound, to hold it in his hands, to feel SOMETHING, other than the wind against his body. His arm halted before being fully outstretched, nearly yanking back from the action. A sharp sting welled up from his inner arm, as if he had attempted to rip the flesh from it.

"…_Stuck?"_

He attempted again, with a more cautious approach. The feeling of a tug from within his inner arm slowly gaining in intensity.

"_Is there something… attached to my arm?"_

_Tick-tic-t… BEEP BEEP BEEP_

The once alluring auditory melody of a clocks ticking slowly faded into the darkness. With a more metal, a more electronic sound replacing it. Suddenly his free fall stopped. His body halted its downward momentum immediately and replaced his weightless feeling with one of pressure. The darkness suddenly erupting into light.

He slowly brought his arm to his face to block out the light, only to be stopped once more. He glanced downwards, his vision slowly adjusting, to view a… cord? When his retinas' decided that they had adjusted enough to the appropriate level of light, he began to understand that it wasn't a cord. Following the line downward it disappeared into the small of his right arm.

"…_Tube… am I hooked to something?" _The boy thought still dazed from only just waking up.

Shifting his gaze upwards following the path of the tube, he came upon a small clear bag being held by a metal leg, reminiscent of a coat hanger. Slowly the boy looked down noticing several sheets littered about his immediate area. He couldn't see any of his lower extremities and felt as if his body was being restricted of movement save for the one free arm.

"…_Am I ok?"_

The boy tried wiggling his toes and flexing various lower body muscles, insuring everything was intact. His response was a series of restricted tugs. He narrowed his gaze in irritation, _"Who wraps patients up like this? I can't even move."_

Using his free hand, he carefully pulled the blankets away from his neck, allowing his left arm to be freed. He then began to shed the blankets away, not very different from a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Once the majority of the tightly wrapped sheets had been pulled away, he brought himself to a sitting position.

"_I must've… been in an accident?" _He thought, using his left hand to feel against the IV.

His mind was still fuzzy, he wasn't even sure if he was still dreaming or not. He squinted his eyes trying to get a visual of his supposed "hospital room". His vision was naturally poor, but he was certain it wasn't to the degree of what he was currently witnessing.

"_Is it me… or is everything… EXTRA blurry here?" _

Having bad eyesight has been something he was accustomed to. Whenever he had to remove his glasses he hated what he saw. The world was quite literally a blur to him. But, be that as it may, his vision wasn't this bad. Glancing at different surfaces around him, he noticed that the typical series of shadows and textures that naturally accompanied the world's colors were somewhat… dulled. As if everything had a lack of luster, or even definition for that matter.

"…_I need my glasses…" _

He attempted to move his feet from beneath the pulled down sheets and leaned off the hospital bed. He shifted his weight trying to let gravity pull his feet to the ground but was stopped when his head and armed yanked him back to a sitting position with his legs dangling over the side. Weariness and deliria were beginning to feign, and the boy was starting to get both agitated and nervous.

Looking downward at the IV he took a deep breath and gripped it with his left arm. He closed his eyes, turned away, and pulled with all his might. The surgical tape holding the needle and drip in place was forcibly ripped from his arm successfully turning the simple puncture into a small gash.

He ground his teeth and held in a whimper, still uncertain with where he was and not wishing to alert someone to him.

"_FUCK! That really really hurt!" _He inwardly thought.

He gently stroked his now bleeding arm, massaging the pain into something more bearable. This only lasted a few seconds before he began removing several brainwave monitors from his forehead. The sound of a suction cup _pop_ was heard with each one he plucked.

_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. _Among the multitude of tubes and wires he pulled, one of them was the heartbeat monitor. He gave little notice to it, more concerned with getting a bearing of where he was than setting off the machine.

He sat upright letting his feet dangle above the floor, before putting his weight forward and planting his feet to the ground. The first sensation he received was the cool feel of smooth concrete against his toes. It was then that he realized that his clothes had been pretty much taken off.

"_Tch_.." He sounded, becoming more and more agitated as time went on. He scanned the room around him, hoping to catch sight of his clothes or glasses and was happy to find a neat stack on a chair near his bed. The chair was only a few steps away and near what appeared to be a window. Stepping slowly and cautiously towards it, he kept his hand at the rim of the bed, hoping to not hit something with his foot and lose his balance.

When he arrived, a small sliver of light protruded from the wall that he designated "strange looking window and blinds". The small beam of light lay indiscriminately on a stack of clothes. A white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled past the elbows buttoned in place, a pair of tan khaki pants laid underneath that with a black belt unfastened around it. Off to the left of the shirt and pants was a pair of socks and his black boots. At random he began putting his garments back on, trying to rid himself of this feeling of… free-ness.

He buttoned his shirt up leaving a few buttons near the neck undone and let his belt droop down his left thigh due to its length after fastening it. Finally he slipped on his socks and boots, allowing the tongues of the boots to envelop his pant legs.

He gave a quick scan down to make sure everything was in order, and then he began to search for his missing glasses. His eyes came upon a string of blobs that he could only guess were various kinds of medical equipment. They were awkward looking in the dim suffocated lighting and all carried a blue glow.

With a bit of luck and some fumbling around, he came upon his glasses.

"_Dear god thank you! Don't know how much longer I could've lasted."_

Slipping the spectacles on his face, letting the bridge align with his nose, he blinked several times in contempt. Everything was much clearer now, features became more refined and detailed, colors blended less, and… wait, why do things still look odd?

He looked around the room with his brows clenched in confusion, observing the natural textures they contained. It wasn't the wall paint or the types of furniture or machinery around him, it was literally how everything looked. Nothing looked quite… finished? His mind racked on the idea that a texture couldn't be quite finished, finding the very idea confusing. Maybe that wasn't the right way to put it? He looked towards his exposed arms and his eyes grew large. It wasn't just the room, he himself didn't look complete!

It was as if all the smaller details on his hands that were normally visible were gone. They were replaced with a more, streamlined appearance, maybe like, artwork? He began panicking, this couldn't be right; it had to be a hallucination. Maybe he was drugged and kept there as a lab rat?

His imagination ran wild with assumptions until he came to look upon the slightly visible window once more. He quickly trotted towards it, placing his hands on what he would guess to be in-wall integrated drapes. Putting slight pressure on the drape and expanding his arms outward to either side, the drapes separated, generating much more light than the dim emergency light could provide.

The sight that welcomed him wasn't what he wanted to see, nor was it expected. It was a bright sunny day, the birds were chirping, and the… ocean was crashing against the rocks? The closest sight of foliage was several meters down.

His mouth quivered slightly, his previous agitation being drowned out by his now nervous and apprehensive feelings.

"_I'm… I'm… on an island? In a tower no less! And what city is that?"_

He tried accessing his most recent memories but couldn't come up with anything; his mind was dark, not willing to give up a shred of reassurance through a memory as to how he ended up where he was. Now he was panicking, he didn't know how he got there, why he was there; and to top things off he was trapped on an island.

He spun on his heel and scanned the room for an exit. When his eyes fell upon a pair of steel French doors, he sprinted straight for them. As he approached he slowed his pace, an epiphany dawning him before he could reach out and open the doors.

"_What if I was captured? If I go running outta' here like a madman I'll be caught and probably put back to sleep… or worse." _

He slowly reached down to crack open the left door, taking care not to make a single noise in doing so. But he never got the chance to finish; the right door swung open to reveal a blue hood. The boy stopped all movement staring at the new figure that entered. The hood turned upon entry and jumped slightly, startled by the close proximity of the boy. Their face was shrouded with only a small portion of their jaw line exposed and a pair of purple eyes.

It returned the stare back to the boy, causing the boy to sweat slightly, his fight or flight beginning to kick in. _"Fight or flight, fight or flight, fight or flight!"_

The shrouded being spoke in a monotone yet obviously feminine tone, "Oh, your awake."

He blinked twice, unsure if he should respond. The gears in his rational mind began to metaphorically turn and it screamed that this person obviously had a part in the reason he was here. The answer came all too easily when faced with that fact.

"…_Flight"_

He broke their gaze and plunged through the door, falling to the ground and splattering small spots of blood over the floor. He quickly rolled and took off down a hallway, unsure of where he was going; only wishing to escape.

* * *

_Before the Encounter_

* * *

Raven sat at the edge of her bed, her legs crossed Indian style. She lifted her right leg slightly and forcibly brought it down in a repetitive manner. A quiet _thump thump thump _sounding with each movement. She was impatient; she tried to sleep and only managed a couple hours. She didn't want to get up, it was 6 AM and she knew that Robin would want her to get a full 8 hours rest before doing anything. But she simply couldn't sleep.

She visibly _sighed_ and placed her elbow on her fidgeting leg halting its movements. She then arched her head into her outturned palm, resting the first on the second. She wouldn't be able to go back to sleep if she just sat there, she would have to find a more conventional way to expend this pent up energy.

She glossed over the books in her bookshelf out of the corner of her eye, immediately deciding for once that she wasn't interested in reading. She then looked towards her many candles, imagining them in a circle and her meditating amongst them. It was a promising idea, but she wasn't up for talking to her emotions at the moment either.

Her eyes than fell upon the door to her bedroom, looking absentmindedly in its direction.

"I could work it off. Maybe take a stroll around the tower?" She thought, throwing out random methods of forcing sleep.

As she thought more on walking her head slowly lifted from her palm and became erect. An idea falling upon her; she could take another visit to the stranger's room. She began to wonder if she should try penetrating his mind again or maybe even trying to wake him through magic.

She decided that she would at least walk to the infirmary to check to see if he had awakened yet and then make her way to the main room for a cup of tea. She pulled her cloak tightly around her, placing the hood in its up position.

With a groan she spoke, "Guess there's nothing better to do."

She floated towards her door, punching in the access code and causing the door to slide open with a quick _swoosh_. She then drifted outside and closed the door behind her, traveling two feet before looking down in realization.

"Right… walking…" She droned, slightly annoyed at the act of absent-mindedness.

She walked down several corridors passing Starfire's and Robin's door's on her way there. As she neared the infirmary the constant low pitch of the heartbeat monitor cut through the silence. Her face widened in horror, assuming the boy was dead in the room. She quickly moved to the door nearest her and flung it open. As she opened it she noticed the door parallel to her was slightly cracked, causing her to turn her head as she entered.

* * *

_Back to the Present_

* * *

Raven looked on in awe at what just happened. The boy was awake, that was great news! But he just came barreling out of the medical bay like he was running the 100 meter dash at an Olympic event. Her voice was caught in her throat, still in a state of shock. It took the sight of his blood on the floor to wake her from her trance and run after him.

He got to the end of a hallway before seeing her take off after him.

"_CRAP! She's chasing me! That either means danger or misunderstanding and I'm not going to stick around to find out which!"_

He wasn't going to be captured, he may be in foreign territory, but he was a survivor, he wouldn't be captured and experimented on. He made it down an open corridor and passed several name plates on his way. He caught a few strange names: Cyborg, Star-Something, Beast, and two names that started with R's. He didn't give it much thought, allowing the memory to sit neatly in his mind for the time being.

A few more turns and he was home fr-… or at a dead end. He skidded to a halt turning back to see if the woman was still chasing him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no one and began observing the dead end. Even in the dimly lit halls, he could make out the wall was made of metal and had a black "T" painted across it. He examined the wall closely, noting that it looked as if there was a small seem in the wall.

He reached his hand out to touch the wall when a small pale hand shot past his and touched it causing the "T" to separate and produce a room. The boy stiffened, his heart rate began escalating to the point where he could literally hear it; almost as if the organ were floating next to his ear. He felt cloth lightly brush against his hand and the blue hooded figure strolled past him nonchalantly.

Raven had figured that chasing him down would only frighten him more and she wasn't interested in a game of cat and mouse. She allowed him to reach the main room and merely teleported to his location once he reached it. She watched him intently among the shadows until revealing herself, studying him. Once she was firmly inside the now open room, she turned and lowered her hood.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She spoke, her face was static but her eyes seemed to be speaking volumes for her. She outstretched her finger towards him and pointed.

"You're bleeding, if you don't tend to the wound you may end up in an anemic state."

He eyed her suspiciously, not wanting to take his eyes off her. He slowly raised his arm and glanced downwards noticing the gash he created and cursed inwardly at not wrapping it in something before leaving. He returned his gaze to her once she approached. He instinctively took a retreating step as a response to increase their distance.

She immediately stopped moving and sighed before speaking again, "I mean you no harm, I simply want to help."

As he stood he contemplated cutting his loses and just attacking.

"_I detest the idea of hitting a girl, but I don't see very many options at this point. I MUST be drugged if she caught me so effortlessly, so running is pretty much ruled out. That, or I'm an idiot and she just knows a short-cut." _

After a few minutes of silent staring, Raven began to advance on him, taking slow steady steps trying desperately to keep him from running again. The boy was frozen in place like a deer in headlights. He had to make a quick decision and it had to be soon or he may end up in a pinch again. He slowly turned his head to face the open doorway.

"_I can't hit a girl, guess my only move is to back-track through and try to find an exit!"_

Raven stopped her advances only to bring a hand quickly to her head in frustration producing a loud _smack_ in the process.

"Of all the people to come in here…"

The boy's eyes widened and his pupils shrank to the size of pins, he couldn't believe what he was seeing right now!

* * *

**Well well well, there goes chapter 4! I took the weekend off to… not think of this story…**

**Honestly my best work comes when I'm in a working environment :D you should be happy I spend work days writing for you!**

**I wonder who popped up, I'm sure you have an idea… but I'll never tell (^-^)…**

**Rate, Review, and I'll try and get chapter 5 up ASAP!**


	5. care for some tea

"_CRAP!"_ The boy was just about to make his getaway, when someone blocked his path. Apprehension swelled in his gut, his palms started to sweat, his mind screamed bloody murder. He admittedly didn't have the most concrete plan in the world for his escape, but the thought never crossed his mind that someone else would come to box him in.

There was no escape now, no means of withdrawing. The hooded girl stood a measly few feet from his rear. To his front, a walking vegetable wrapped in purple and black spandex. The green teen stood, rubbing his eyes, unmoving from his position.

"…_What is this, a circus?" _The boy thought, quickly losing what little cool he had left. He watched the green boy rub sleep from his eyes and began to formulate a plan.

_Mumble mumble _"Where's the fire" said the green boy. He removed a gloved hand from his face to reveal droopy eyes and a glassy stare. To this, the escapee raised a brow in contemplation.

"…_Did he just wake up? If he's not on his game, I should just toss him out of the way and make a run for it." _The boy thought. His fingers twitched and his calves tightened in anticipation for the vault he was about to attempt. He was teetering on the edge of finding out if the grass colored boy's face would make a good spring-board when the hooded girl spoke again.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Suddenly his body was encased in a black bubble, the all too familiar feeling of restriction overtaking him once more. Rationalizing being caught in a sphere that appeared from thin air was simply impossible. He was still trying to work out the details on how someone could be so… green.

Not unlike an old horror movie, he glided across the ground, his feet barely touching the floor. He then rotated at an eerily slow pace until he was face to face with the azure cloaked girl once more. Behind him he heard a small _shriek_ followed by a _thud_.

"Huh-wah? Raven, what are you doing?" Rambled the now more alert jade colored kid.

The boy's eyes widened with fear as he gawked at his capture, this so called 'Raven'. He didn't want to be put back in the hospital room. He didn't want to be experimented on. He watched as the girl's facial expression softened and wondered what she was going to do to him.

"I'm sorry I grabbed you like this, but if you bleed anymore you're going to pass out. I'm going to heal the wound ok, try not to move." She spoke, sincerity evident in her words.

"_Try not to move? How could I move like this?" _Scoffed the boy, fear quickly being replaced with annoyance. The hooded girl raised an arm and allowed a light glow to emit from her hand. It was an interesting display for her prisoner, who watched on in a flurry of emotion.

The boy found his eyes glued to her, unable to look away. A series of thoughts crossed his mind, varying from whether or not he was going to survive to see tomorrow, all the way to how he could have possibly been captured by one half-asleep piece of spinach and a girl who most likely walked to catch him while he was sprinting.

Gradually, his injury began to warp, the exposed flesh melting back into skin, reforming torn muscle and returning pigment to the appropriate colors. It felt like a cool breeze was being blown on the former abrasion, whisking away all the pain and disfigurations.

He glanced towards his arm, watching in awe as his wound mended itself through the blackness of the bubble he was incased in. When it ceased, she gently pulled her hand back and allowed the white light to flicker into nothingness. She looked up casually to the boy; her violet hair traveling ever so slightly passed her ears in a pendulum of motion.

"Feeling better?" She spoke; her voice was monotone and raspy, but especially sincere in the same breath.

The boy glanced down to his arm once more, noting that all traces of an injury had disappeared. Once his self examination was complete, he nodded, signifying his satisfaction with her patch work. The black bubble followed the white lights lead, disappearing in a quick flicker.

He could have sworn he caught a ghost of a smile and a smidge of blush, but dismissed the thought when she pulled the rim of her hood, concealing what little of her face he could see. She then glanced behind her, keeping her body fixed as her head turned.

"Beast Boy, wake the others and tell them that-" She then turned and looked towards the boy, "-What exactly is your name?"

His name, he didn't know if he should start talking all willy nilly quite yet. He still wasn't certain he could trust either of the two in the room. On top of everything they were calling reinforcements! He figured, out of every moment in his life, right then and there, silence was a virtue. He cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly displaying his disapproval.

Raven needed no more than what little he gave her. She turned her head back towards Beast Boy and resumed, "Just tell them our guest is up and about; gather them all here in the main room."

Beast Boy took this opportunity to express himself, "Aww but Raae! I just woke up and it's like… a million hours too early! Can't we just wait till-"

Raven turned her body away from the boy, facing Beast Boy fully. The boy glanced slightly over Raven's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the green beans reactions. The green guy looked as though someone was readying the guillotine for him to be executed. With a nod and a small, "Ri-right!" he took off to go grab the 'others'.

A small sigh escaped her lips and she turned again to face the boy.

"You can take a seat on the couch… if you want." She spoke, unsure what to say now that they were alone.

The boy glanced around the room, taking in his surroundings. An enormous screen sat at the far wall which he assumed was some sort of monitor or television. To his right were cabinets and a fridge, clearly the kitchen. The space was bright, extremely bright, due to the fact that most of the enormous walls where actually large windows that towered from the floor to the ceiling. The view overlooked the bay and held the city in its horizon. It was a breathtaking scene.

"_This is their 'living room'? What do these people do for money?!"_

He slowly looked back towards Raven, searching her eyes for the ok to walk towards the large semi-circle couch. She gave a small nod and motioned for him to go on with her eyes. He began walking gingerly towards the couch, gliding his hand across the fabric.

"_I guess… I can check off convict from the list of reasons I'm here… otherwise she could have killed me with… whatever it was that she did."_

He stopped at the base of the couch looking down at the nearest seat cushion. Leaning forward and letting his weight drop as his knees buckled, he sat down. He closed his eyes in silent content, finding the position much better than the one in the hospital bed.

Raven watched his movements in amusement, taking note of his curious glances and perplexed looks. She glanced back towards the door Beast Boy had exited from and started to feel volleys of surprise.

"_Guess Beast Boy woke up Starfire first."_ She thought to herself.

Her cloak twirled slightly as she made her way towards the kitchen. Her initial objective was a bit convoluted but the idea involved tea which she so greatly needed at the moment. She made her way to the kitchen and poured water into her kettle. After reaching a suitable level, she then placed the kettle on a lit stove top, proceeding to grab her tea cup afterward.

An idea dawned upon her as she was reaching for her cup, quickly averting her gaze towards the boy sitting comfortably on the couch.

"Do you… drink tea?" She asked, trying to be polite as she could manage. It was tough considering she was forced into a static faced submission by the restrictions her powers set. But, she managed to weasel out enough kindness in her tone for the boy to produce a small nod without facing her.

"_Is this what it feels like talking to me sometimes?" _she wondered, slightly perturbed at the silent treatment the guy was giving her.

He could smell the tea leaves all the way from his seat. He wasn't really thirsty, most likely due to the IV that had been attached to him he deduced. But he figured a little tea would do his nerves some good at the moment.

He kept his eyes shut, enjoying the sun's rays on his skin. He didn't feel quite safe yet, but he figured he was at least in a lesser amount of danger than he previously thought. Their silence went on for a few minutes before the main doors separated once more producing one familiar face and several new ones.

An orange girl quickly found her way to the boy enveloping him in a spine crushing hug yanking him from one side of the couch to the other in the process.

"Ohhhh our dear guest has awakened from his slumber! !" She spoke at lightning speed, a large smile across her face all the while.

The boy's face contorted at several angles, suddenly finding breathing to be very difficult.

"Whoa Star, he can't breathe!" Spoke the large robot-like man.

"Oops!"

She hurriedly let go of the boy, a small _plop_ sounding from his boots making contact with the floor once again. He bent over to in exasperation, trying desperately to massage the pain from his ribs. Slowly rising and stretching his back, he breathed a _sigh_ of relief once the sting subsided.

Now, a giant of a man stood to the left of the autumn themed female. He appeared to be something out of a science fiction novel; nearly his entire body was covered in electronics. The boy looked on in utter confusion, wondering if he was indeed in some kind of circus.

"Sorry about her, she gets pretty giddy when she meets new people, names Cyborg." Cyborg spoke, outstretching his hand to shake. The boy eyeballed the man, trying to make sense of the new spectacle in front of him. He desperately searched for a zipper or a mask line, wondering if the guy in front of him was in fact, a 'cyborg' as his name suggests.

He then moved his gaze towards his oversized hand, cocking his head to the side as he stared.

Cyborg took that as a hint, and retracted his hand slightly, positioning it behind his head afterwards.

Then, a boy, slightly shorter than himself stepped forward, his outfit's color scheme reminding him of traffic lights. He walked directly in front of the two and spoke with confidence.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." He spoke.

He was probably the most normal looking one of the bunch, if you ignored the hair style, and the mask, and the cape, and the weird belt… ok, he was pretty weird himself. An almost inaudible _whistle_ found its way to the boy's ear signaling the water was ready. He shifted his gaze slightly to see the cobalt cloaked girl swiftly moving about in the background, preparing two cups of tea.

Turning his eyes back to the masked man in front of him, he waited for more information.

"You mind telling me who you are?" He spoke, urging the boy to speak.

Raven had appeared seconds later holding two cups, waiting for the boy to speak as well. After a few glances towards the people who were amongst them, he cleared his throat and spoke for the first time.

"Ivan… Ivan Jagger."

The masked teen gave a small smile and continued the conversation.

"Nice to meet you Ivan, my names Robin." Robin then began pointing to the various figure heads in the room.

"That's Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire." A few of them smiled while others gave reassuring nods.

"Hmm" Ivan responded.

"_Guess those names are their nameplates for their rooms huh…"_

"…I hope you like herbal…" Raven handed Ivan the cup, finding the small pause in the conversation the appropriate time to hand him his beverage.

"Heeey, you never offer ME tea!"

"Beast Boy, you hate tea, and I'm neither your maid nor your mother, if you want tea be an adult and make your own." Raven responded, nonchalantly drinking from her steaming cup.

_Humph_ Beast Boy crossed his arms and frowned.

"Ahh come on Raven, ya know he can't make tea, the grass stain still needs a cheat sheet to make cereal!" Cyborg chimed in.

"Nah-uhh!"

"Uh-huuh!"

"Oversized can-opener!"

"Little green elf!"

"ENOUGH!" Raven yelled clearly losing her patience.

Robin shook his head in embarrassment and went on with his conversation.

"How are you feeling?"

Ivan took a small sip from his cup, letting the soothing liquid warm his insides. His eyes were downcast, finding his drink to be very fascinating at the moment. He then glanced upward, his eyes barely visible as a result of his gaze still bent slightly downward.

"I don't know you tell me…"

Robin's mask flexed a wrinkled in an attempt to mimic his questionable look.

"Well, our tests tell us your ok, but it'd be nice if you could tell us how you're feeling." He was trying to get to a middle ground. Break the ice before the real interrogation began.

Ivan angled his head so he could look straight into the leader's eyes. Robin made note of their light gray appearance, and waited for him to retort.

"I've been better I suppose…"

"Are you still feeling any pain?"

"…No"

"That's good."

"…."

Robin frowned slightly, he was making conversation difficult. He figured he should just try going straight to the point since leisure talk seemed to be failing.

"Do you remember what happened to you last night?"

Ivan stiffened, he had tried remembering things earlier, he didn't really get much success from it. He closed his eyes in contemplation, trying to find a memory, any memory, something. Pictures of two girls laughing filled his mind, running, a wedding ring, blurs and random images that had no rhyme or rhythm.

His eyes gradually opened once more, accompanied by a frown.

"I thought you people would know; I have no idea…"

"Maybe he's like Larry, and came from like, ANOTHER dimension!"

"That's ridiculous Beast Boy, if he was anything similar to Larry than he would have came on his own accord don't you think? Larry was an interstellar being capable of altering reality, I doubt if Ivan was capable of such feats he would be in the situation he currently is."

"…You people are joking right?"

The five teens all gave Ivan their undivided attention when he spoke, clearly bewitched by his confused tone.

"This must be a game right? I'm on some… what television show? I mean 'reality-altering', different dimensions? Everything you guys are saying is utter-nonsense and completely fictional."

Ivan spoke in a calmly, but his confusion was evident. Although the average person wasn't quite up-to-date with all supernatural events in the world, but the majority of people had already come to realize that things such as this were possible. At least, that's how things were in their world.

Robin spoke again, choosing his words carefully.

"Are you from Earth?" He had remembered wondering if the boy was an alien by nature before and this outburst may be related.

"…Are any of YOU?"

"Cyborg, Beast Boy, and myself are, while Raven is half, and Star is a full blown alien from a planet called Tamaran."

Ivan _scoffed _in disbelief, "Yeah and I'm Mary Queen of Scotland, this is ridiculous."

"It's pretty standard for most. You seem to be an exception; most people are use to this kind of thing Ivan." Robin stated, trying to sympathize with the guy.

There was a long pause before Ivan spoke again, deciding to make some queries of his own.

"What am I doing here?"

Robin smirked, noting how in one night his silent coma victim turned into a bit of a talker.

"We know less than you probably, you just kind of appeared really."

"Appeared?"

"To be more accurate, you came flying out of a window with no people behind it."

Ivan gave another confused look, unable to keep up with the strange situation he found himself in.

"Ok, let's assume I believe that, would it also be safe to say that you guys ABDUCTED me? Mind you, I woke up strapped to a bunch of wires, held in the top of a tower, and sitting in the middle of a lake!"

Abduc-? We're good guys Ivan, you were hurt so we brought you to our infirmary."

Robin couldn't believe what he was hearing; no one ever accused him of abducting someone. The sound of Beast Boy murmuring 'I told you so' causing him to grind his teeth.

"Good guys? Good is just a point of view, and from where I'm looking, you look like you've got a lot to hide with that mask on."

"The mask is to hide my identity, but not to for the reasons your insinuating. You… you've never heard of us?"

Ivan shook his head signaling a no.

"Duuude, we're only like the most famous teen superheroes in the known universe!"

"Yes, it is as friend Beast Boy has said, we are the Teen Titans!"

Ivan sweat dropped, he was starting to lose hope that any of these people were properly sane. He decided to humor them, and continue with new questions.

"Super…heroes? As in people with powers or skills to fight crime? Guess that explains the tights."

A small blush appeared on Robin's face while Ivan took the time to finish his tea.

"Yes, we all have a means of fighting crime different than your average law enforcer; we fight crime and keep the citizens of that city safe among many others." He said, pointing behind Ivan at the enormous city.

"You don't have superheroes were you're from?"

Finishing his tea Ivan then wiped his lips and closed his eyes once more.

"…No, we have soldiers and police officers, no caped vigilantes parading around in their underwear, especially not kids my age."

Robin's eye twitched, he knew this guy was most likely just trying to keep his cool in a strange environment, but he wasn't going to take much more of this.

"So I'm guessing you don't have any powers?"

Ivan allowed his eyes to crack open slightly at the new question.

"No…"

"Dudes I'm telling you he's from some other dimension, just look at him! His clothes don't look right and he said where he's from there are no superheroes!"

"My clothes? How about your whole world."

Now Robin was getting interested again. He motioned for Beast Boy to quiet down and urged Ivan on to continue.

"What do you mean?"

Ivan looked at the ceiling, than the wall, than to himself, stopping at Robin.

"Nothing is… done… it's not really something that I can express to you. But you, me, the whole world looks like someone hasn't finished adding all the little details. I'm not expecting you to get this but that's the best I can do at explaining it."

He was right; Robin didn't get it, not finished? The world lacked details? Beast Boy's idea was becoming more promising by the minute.

Robin was just about to start another set of questions when the alarm sounded. The lights shut off, red strobes replacing them and turning the main room red. The Titans looked at one another and then back towards their leader.

Robin's eyes narrowed irritated with the interruption, "Titans…"

* * *

**And that's where I'm ending! Sorry it took so freaking long, but I've had massive writers block hahaha.**

**Yay for finally giving Ivan his name!**

**If some of you have noticed "The 5****th**** Dimension" and my story seem terrifyingly similar. Well I had started writing this story probably around the same time as Encrypted but ended up getting beat to the punch on the submission!**

**Happily, this is the point in which I believe our stories will take a drastic turn in plot! So no more identical scenes hopefully!**

**As always Rate and Reviews are more than welcomed and I'll try to get up chapter 6 ASAP! **


	6. pinch me I'm dreaming

"Looks like today's going to be another scorcher!"

_Click_

"…No… it can't be… y-you should be dead…"

_Click_

"SUNDAY NIGHT MA-MA-MA-MONSTER TRUCK RALLY!"

_Click_

"-pinch of salt and you'll have a wonderful broth for dinner."

_Click_

_Sigh_

The unmistakable echo of plastic hitting a cushion sounded throughout the main room as Ivan tossed the television remote downward. He outstretched his arms so they lay comfortably on the back of the large couch and propped his legs on the coffee table.

"I can't believe they really left me here by myself." Ivan spoke.

His eyes traced the borders of Jump City as he thought, replaying the events of just several minutes earlier.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

"Titans-"

"Whoa there valiant leader, I'm all aboard the kick bad guy butt wagon; but before you go telling us to go, what are we going to do with Ivan?" Cyborg immediately interrupted Robin, earning himself a scowl from the masked hero.

Robin turned towards Ivan, who was currently in a state of awe, courtesy of the alarm. He then turned towards Cyborg once more, coming to a definitive solution.

"The tower is the safest place to be within a 30 kilometer radius. He stays here till the situation is handled." He then reached into his utility belt, producing a small device. He toyed with the objects surface until a hologram was produced; a slightly brown figure with multiple green eyes came to life in a display of light. Several words were scattered around the image, arrows pointed to various points on its body.

"Plasmus is on the run; we'll need everyone here to take him down, which means Ivan will have to hold down the fort here alone for a while."

Ivan gave a questionable look, _"He can't be serious…"_

The caped crusader then turned his attention back towards Ivan. His face was stern even behind his mask. The hologram disappeared in a quick burst of light and the device was quickly jammed back into its carrying case on the boy wonder's belt.

"I know this may be a tall order, and you still have tons of questions, but I need you to stay here. We can't ensure your safety if you're with us and I'd rather not tip off anyone that we have a civilian with us…"

"…_My hero; look at you, thinking of my safety. How absolutely adorable." _He thought sarcastically_._

Ivan crossed his arms and allowed his glasses to fall slightly down the bridge of his nose. He gave a disapproving look towards the walking traffic light. He couldn't believe they were really going to leave him.

"We'll be back as soon as we can Ivan, just stay put until then. Titan's GO!"

* * *

"I don't know whether to feel honored that they trust me to be here by myself; or to be insulted that I was left here because I'd be a burden."

Slowly, he let his head roll back, letting the tense muscles in his neck loosen and allowing his eyes to make contact with the ceiling. He wasn't really upset at all. He was just confused. He may not have been able to believe what the spandex and mask wearing teenager was trying to feed him. But, he did consider the possibility that he is now absolutely away from home.

"…_Home…" _He thought, as his mind drifted without direction.

He wanted answers, but he didn't know where to start questioning. Robin said that he came from a window. Not through it, but FROM it, as in, his existence in this world originated from a window. There was absolutely no way that Ivan was going to except that explanation, let alone fathom the idea.

"People don't come from windows; it'd be a joke to even humor that. But…" Ivan then shifted his gaze towards his hand, his glasses slightly falling down the bridge of his nose at the new angle.

"I will admit that I can't possibly be on my Earth..."

Ivan sat staring at his uninspiring hand, waiting, praying that an answer would fall upon him. He closed his eyes to try and remember again, to try and find a clue to this whole mess of a puzzle. His blackened vision erupted in a flood of images, none of which creating a coherent message. He saw random pictures of people and buildings, he heard shouts and screams and the sound of glass breaking. He felt weightless again, yet rigid as stone. Then the images stopped, leaving him more bewildered than before.

"…what…happened to me?"

He sat at the couch for several minutes, unmoving, and unwilling to accept his current state of reality. His head shot forward and his feet slammed to the floor as a quickly he came up with an idea.

"My god! Why didn't I think of this before?"

Placing his thumb and index finger to his cheek, he lightly put a small amount of skin between the two phalanges. With a speedy pull and twist, he yanked on his cheek. His face scrunched and his head reeled at the pain, causing him to hit the crest of the couch with the back of his head as his toe hit the edge of the coffee table.

"OWW!"

The abrupt pain in his toe took precedence over the one in his head causing him to lean a bit too far forward. He fell to the floor in a disheveled heap, with one hand on his inward facing foot and the other on back of his head. The small _clatter_ of his glasses falling radiated around his immediate area.

He remained on the floor in an odd position for a few moments until the pain subsided. After his body stopped pulsating he then allowed himself to straighten, lying parallel to the couch and the coffee table with his arms stretched above his head barely unable to reach his glasses while his legs became fully elongated, lazily stretching out on the ground.

"…Guess this isn't a dream either..."

* * *

"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled after a well placed sonic blast to Plasmus's face.

The brown blob stumbled and leaned against a nearby lamp-post for support; his oozing body enveloping the bottom half as he nestled against it.

"…Ew…" Droned Raven, she wasn't particularly fond of Plasmus, or the showers she had to take after being hit by him.

"Titans, together!" Sounded Robin from overhead.

Raven enveloped two cars, smashing them to either side of the creature to hold him still. Starfire then came hurtling to the ground from several stories up hauling Robin in her hands. Once she was close enough, she forced herself backward, flinging Robin straight towards the monsters face.

"Lights out Plasmus!" He yelled as he closed in on his target.

Plasmus tired to move, to grab the quickly approaching Titan, but the hold Raven had on him was too tight. Before he knew it, Robin was somersaulting over him giving a display of grace as he landed behind the walking slime monster. Robin then turned slightly; smirking at the monster, causing Plasmus's many eyes to grow wide in fear.

_SCREEE-_

His scream was short lived; he was frozen solid with the majority of his body coated in thick ice. The ground began to shake and Plasmus's frozen body rumbled slightly. Off in the distance, a green Tyrannosaurs was approaching. Turning on a large clawed toe it whipped its massive tail forward, shattering the ice and revealing a sleeping boy.

The large prehistoric beast gave a mighty _roar_ before shrinking to the size of a boy. Beast Boy stood in the dinosaurs wake, moon-walking in triumph.

"Ohh yeaah, go Beast Boy, go Beast Boy, go Beast Boy!"

Several eyes wandered towards the wall and ceiling in annoyance. A _groan_ was produced from Raven as she looked at her dancing teammate, "…Can we go home now?"

"Yes I would very much so enjoy returning. I believe Plasmus has given me the smell of sliced cheese."

Beast Boy momentarily stopped his dance to glance towards Cyborg in confusion, only to receive a casual shrug in response. Raven took it upon herself to float past the two confused boys and made her way towards the T-Car.

"Not sure if you're aware, but we have a borderline amnesiac sitting alone in the tower…"

She then swiftly opened the back door, sliding quickly into the vehicle. With her gaze fixed forward she waited patiently for the remains of her team to pile in as well. The four Titans looked gingerly at each other, finding amusement in Raven's sudden fascination with their guest.

"Not to mention the guy probably hasn't eaten yet." Cyborg chimed in as the four began making the journey towards the car.

"He can totally have some of my veggie burgers!"

"No one wants your nasty ol' fake burger!"

"It's not FAKE, it's just not MEAT!"

"Can't make a burger without delicious, mouth-watering BEEF."

"Ughh, dude your gunna make me sick…"

Robin was the next one to the car, immediately taking shotgun. Beast Boy and Starfire followed suit, leaving the green teen in the middle between the two female Titans. Cyborg slowly made his way to the driver's door, taking particular care to not let stray pieces of dirt trail inside of the car from his metal feet.

"Next stop, Titan's Tower."

The car roared to life with the thunder of the engine. The wheels burned out leaving nothing but a small trail of smoke and residual light in the aftermath of the explosive start. The ride was initially quite, but silence could only go on for so long with a particular overzealous boy present.

"Sooo, are we gunna keep him?"

Raven pulled her hood down to properly display her raised eyebrow to his question.

"You know what I mean!"

"…Ivan is not some stray dog we found in an alley Beast Boy. He's a lost boy who was until just recently comatose. I'm pretty sure kicking him out on the street is low on the 'to do list'."

"Friend Raven, do you perhaps have some interest in Ivan?"

Heat welled in the back of her neck as she glanced out the window. A small blush blossomed on her face in the process. She didn't have any particular interest in him; she just wanted to help him. That was their job right? They helped people in need, what was wrong with wanting to help someone?

"Don't be ridiculous, he's a victim, we're the heroes, I'm just trying to hurry up and get him home."

"Relax Rae; Star wasn't exactly unjustified in her question. I mean, you made him tea, you checked on him before everyone was awake; you're in such a rush to get back now. You're never this people oriented."

Cyborg glanced into the rear view mirror after his small speech, trying to catch a glimpse of emotion from her. She kept her head faced towards the window, refusing to allow someone to see her.

"I am also curious about new friend Ivan. If he is not from here, then where is it that he came from?"

Now it was Robin's turn to give a reply, "Don't know Star, but we'll find out."

"How we gunna do that?" Beast Boy asked, finally immersing in the conversation.

"I'll check a few records to see if he comes up in any databases."

"I think I'm gunna try given him a routine physical, maybe I'll be able to find something."

Raven turned towards her metal friend, her flustered face replaced by her traditional static look.

"So we're going to further hold him against his will and continue taking test on him? Sounds like a great idea…"

Robin visibly _sighed_ while Cyborg shook his head in amusement. They hadn't intended for it to sound quite like keeping someone prisoner. They were obviously going to treat him like any good hosts would. But he didn't belong in the Tower. He had no recollection of how he got to the city let alone from the window. He also claims to not even be familiar with this world. They had to take tests and do research; for his sake.

The remainder of the car ride was quite. Everyone's mind in one way or another would drift towards Ivan. They wanted to help, but they didn't know where to start. After 20 more silent minutes of riding, they arrived back at the tower.

When the car was parked, Raven drifted quickly out the door making her way to the elevator lift that opened directly at the main room floor. Outstretching an arm, she tapped the up button waiting patiently for the elevator doors to open.

"Is friend Raven truly alright? I have never seen her so impatient." She whispered to Robin, cupping her hand over his ear as she spoke.

The contact of her hand lightly grazing his ear caused him to stiffen and the wind from her breath blowing in his ear as she spoke did all but make him melt. When he began feeling heat rising in his face he immediately broke the contact to whisper back in her ear.

"She's probably just antsy to get him out of the tower."

"…Robin?"

"Antsy means she's just in a hurry Star."

"Oh, I see!"

Robin smiled warmly. He loved how innocent she could be when she spoke. Before he knew it, the rest of the Titans had already piled into the elevator and where waiting for them to enter as well. They both strode quickly to the elevator, turning as they entered.

"Guess we'll see how he did with us gone for nearly 2 hours."

Ivan had spent the majority of his time on the couch after his earlier revelation. He laid on his back, unwilling to try and find something on TV to watch. He wanted to expel some energy; he was itching for something constructive to do.

He had wondered if he should try leaving the tower while they were gone, but decided that swimming would have been a bit of a stretch for him. His eyes were starting to get tired out of the sheer volume of boredom he had undergone.

He was just about to fall asleep; his eyes were slowly drifting shut. His mind was starting to turn fuzzy as he imagined the world darkening around him. HE was right on the verge of sleep when…

"WE'RE BACK!"

A yell caused Ivan to jump from the couch, ultimately falling back to his previous position on the floor with a loud _thud._ He winced in pain and slowly pulled himself up and glanced over the back-rest to see the source of the sound.

With his middle finger he gently pushed his glasses up to fit more firmly on his face and then stood so he could be more easily seen by the Titans.

"Anyone attack the tower while we were away?" Cyborg asked jokingly, trying to start small talk.

Ivan looked at him nonchalantly, "Your island retreat is safe and sound…"

"Retreat? I kind of always saw this place as a lighthouse over some hotel."

Ivan gave a small smile and a light chuckle at the metal mans answer. Cyborg was relieved that Ivan wasn't so worked up at the moment. He didn't know much about the guy, but he was starting to form an opinion about him. Thankfully, 'upset, confused, smart-mouthed, know-it-all' was quickly removed from the list at this new open Ivan.

"Have any luck remembering anything?"

Ivan's smile instantly disappeared into a frown. He absentmindedly shoved his hands into his cargo pants pocket and looked out a nearby window. He wasn't in the mood for talking about his failure to remember how he ended up where he is. He just wanted to get on with the rest of the day.

"Sorry man…" Cyborg replied.

He hadn't meant to upset him. He mentally cursed himself at being so careless with his words and tried to think of a good conversation changer. When Ivan raised his hand and shook his head he was brought from his thoughts.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure they'll come back soon. I just need some time I guess…"

"_Well, I did remember something; I just don't know what I'm remembering quite yet. It's like the mail man decided to give me my mail in pieces and didn't even give me a quarter of them back."_

Cyborg let his smile return, happy with how understanding and level-headed Ivan was being. Robin lightly nudged him before he could start another random conversation, signaling that they should get started with what they discussed in the car.

"Alright alright bird boy relax!"

_Sigh_

"I know you just came out of our infirmary this morning, but I was hoping I could take a physical to make absolutely sure you were ok."

Ivan raised a brow in suspicion, "Didn't you already do that? Or were the wires and tubes earlier just for show?"

Cyborg scratched his head, uneasy about having to come up with a reason for having to put him back in a hospital room.

"Uhh… you see… since you were asleep, I wasn't able to check for certain things that I could have. It's nothing serious, no tubes or wires I promise!"

He conveniently left out the part about having to draw a sample of blood to try and make the event seem more manageable. All the while Raven eyed Cyborg angrily. She wasn't opposed to making sure he was ok, but she didn't feel that a physical was necessary.

His memories were locked under an impenetrable wall. She figured that if she could get him to open up just a little more that she could possibly create a situation that would trigger his memories to return. She wasn't the best at getting people to open up, but she was willing to try.

Something about him made her feel different. The first time she had a feeling about someone staying in her home; they turned out to be a traitor and nearly killed her and her friends. But this feeling was quite the opposite. It was closer to 2 kindred spirits. There was something awfully familiar about him, almost like he could relate to her.

_Sigh_

"…Sure, why not?"

Her eyes shot from the hole she was staring in Cyborg's head to a pair of gray orbs that sat behind a pair of rectangular glasses. She wasn't expecting him to agree. For the majority of the time he's been speaking, he's either givin short answers or been completely reluctant to fully cooperate. She wondered what had changed in the hour that they were gone.

Ivan decided that the easiest way to get a bearing on the world around him was to go with the flow until something clicks. There was no point in trying to argue considering they were housing him and fixed him up.

"Gr-Great! If we go now we can come back here and then make dinner."

Ivan shrugged in response, ready to venture onto something other than standing around the main room. He slowly made his way around the couch and walked towards the door where Cyborg was standing. When he reached the remaining Titans, he carefully slipped through them and followed the now walking metal man towards the infirmary. When the door closed the Titans were left befuddled.

"Ahhhh MAN! Now who's going to play Mega Monkeys 6 with me?"

* * *

**Yes I know I suck at updating at a constant time. But I've been actually planning out the entire story, finding that a structure would do me some good. I know nothing interesting happened and the fight scene was a little lacking in action but hey, it'll pick up!**

**So, I'm thinking that the next chapter is going to be pretty interesting, you guys should like what you read then, may get into some interesting stuff with our boy Ivan =]**

**Ahh yes this tale will surely through you readers for a loop =P can't wait to get to the meat of the story!**

**As always, rate and review (even though I only have a total of 2 reviews from anons lol) and I'll try to get chapter 7 up ASAP!**


	7. remember remember

With a _swoosh, _the main room doors closed, just as Ivan had passed through them. Once behind the closed doors, he quickly made his way towards his cybernetic lead. He may have found his way to the main room by himself, but he wasn't exactly making mental notes of where he was going at the time.

As the two walked, Cyborg glanced over his shoulder and motioned for Ivan to walk closer. Quickened footsteps patted the ground as he walked hurriedly to Cyborg's side. The size difference between the two was laughable. Ivan was just barely grazing 6 feet tall and could be mistaken for 5 foot 11; Cyborg on the other hand was a towering 6 foot 4 inches.

"Guess no one's had time to give you a tour. Welcome to Titan's Tower; our lighthouse in the bay."

Ivan smirked at the small reference. "Who keeps up with this place?" Ivan may have only been to two rooms in the tower so far, but judging from how high up the place was, it looked too big for just those five teenagers. He figured they had to have a maid… or a dozen maids to keep the place clean.

Cyborg smiled in response. "We do man! This entire tower is our home. We cook, clean, and maintain everything you see."

"…You're joking? This place is at LEAST 11 stories high! How the heck do you guys clean all this space?"

Cyborg's eyebrow raised and his smile grew at the inquiry. "When you have 3 people who can fly and all the gadgets in the world, you get the job done pretty quickly." Ivan winced slightly and the mention of someone flying. He was trying to normalize things… even though talking to a walking toaster wasn't really normal in and of itself.

They rounded a corner and made their way down an open hall. Ivan hadn't paid much attention to where they were going at first, but the hallway they were in now sparked several memories. _"This is where I passed the nameplates. Are these their bedrooms?"_

As if on cue, the 'Cyborg' nameplate came into view. The name itself wasn't very extraordinary. When he thought about it, cyborgs were just half human half robots. From most of the movies he had seen, they were either time travelling monsters trying to change the past; or they were super cops or detectives trying to save innocent people.

Ivan gave the metal man a quick look-over. His eyes traced all the electronics of his body, from his metal feet, to the blue wiring in his skull. He definitely seemed like a genuine robot-man. The only issue that tugged at the boys mind was…

Ivan lightly pushed his glasses up to fit more comfortably on his face. "Why are you more machine then human?" It was a blunt question. He didn't mean to offend, heck he wasn't really even trying to ask out loud. The nagging thought in his mind kept bringing him back to those movies. How all those cyborgs' LOOKED human, but were robotic. But Cyborg, he just looked robotic to him, if it weren't for the small fleshy parts on his face and arms, he would have figured him to be a full blown machine.

Cyborg's human eye quivered slightly. He looked as though someone had struck him in his most vulnerable of areas. Ivan instantly felt guilt riding over him, for asking such an insensitive question. He turned his head away and muttered a small apology.

"_Well that was a roaring success…"_

The sounds of fingernails coursing through scalp and hair disrupted the growing silence between the two boys. Ivan scratched his head as a defense mechanism. He did it whenever he felt like he had done something wrong. Cyborg had picked up the pace slightly, now his face was just barely out of Ivan's view. Rolling his eyes and _sighing_ deeply, Ivan visibly slumped and sauntered behind the metal teen.

"_Guess it's going to be pretty quite on the way there…"_

"…Don't worry about it man; I'd just rather not talk about it." Cyborg spoke, his shoulders rising and falling due to his hands gesturing as he spoke. Ivan simply looked forward, content that the guy was so forgiving. _"Well at least he didn't get mad and go all 'time-to-terminate' on me…"_

They arrived at the medical wing within minutes of passing several other bedrooms. Cyborg opened the door, holding it open with his forearm and motioning for Ivan to step in ahead of him. With a nod, he entered, followed by the metal giant of a lad.

"Just take a load off over there." Cyborg pointed towards a familiar hospital bed as he walked off to grab several devices.

With a _huff_ he walked towards the bed slumping into its stiff mattress. He glanced around the room, not looking for anything in particular, waiting for the large Titan to return. When Cyborg returned he brought with him a wheeled tray and a small chair. We wore a stethoscope around his neck and had white latex gloves around his hands.

"Dr. Cyborg will now see you."

Ivan gave a small smile, "Heh, funny." This guy rebounded pretty quickly. Just a few minutes ago he was caught up in his thoughts over being asked why he didn't look more like a human. Now he was cracking jokes again? Ivan was really starting to like this guy.

"Okk Ivan, I just plan to take a few tests; nothing out of the ordinary. I'll check your heart rate and temperature first. Then I'll make sure you don't have any abnormalities in your bones or internal organs. Then I'll finish up with a quick blood test; sound good?"

"You're the doctor." Ivan shrugged his shoulders, smiling slightly at his own gesture.

The tests went by swimmingly. Ivan's heart rate was pumping at an even 54 beats per minute. A little lower than the average meaning he must have been active in some kind of physical activity. His temperature measured in at 98.6 degrees, another average number. All his tests were going well… until he came to the blood test.

"Looks like you're checking out pretty good man! Imma' go grab a syringe and take a small blood sample and then you're good to go."

Ivan nodded in response, watching as Cyborg lifted himself from his chair and walk off to fetch the needle. He felt fine, so it wasn't a surprise that the tests came out good. He figured that the blood test would be the same. He gingerly shoved his hands into his cargo pockets.

_tink_

The sound would have went unnoticed had it not been accompanied with a small tap to Ivan's finger tips. He looked down towards his pockets, curiosity quickly overriding his other senses. _"I… left something in my pocket?" _His hands fumbled, looking diligently for the object. When his right hand fell upon something, his face lit up and he quickly yanked his hand from his pocket.

Using his free hand, he straightened his glasses and stared at the object. It was a ring? It looked like a ring anyway. It may have been just ring shaped, since it didn't really look as though it would accommodate his finger well.

It had and onyx coloring. It looked like someone dipped it in darkness and the shadows hardened into a solid substance. The majority of the ring looked as such, save for a single band around the ring. It was neatly placed in the center of the rings surface, sitting parallel to the edges. It followed completely around its surface. One solid piece of… diamond?

He stared at it in awe, wondering how he came upon such a thing. Then… something terrible happened.

* * *

Ivan's body stiffened and memories shot at him in waves. He lurched back in a contorted angle and dropped the ring in the process. Images of him running came clearly into his mind. He was running frantically, desperately trying to get away. He could feel the exhaustion and aching joints as if he were literally reliving the scene.

The feeling of his clenched hand swinging back in fourth brought his attention towards his other arm. _"Why am I only using one arm?" _He thought, watching as his memory self sprinted through some unknown corridor. Then, the next feeling hit him, warmth, wet skin, fingernails digging into him? He was holding on to someone else?

He tried desperately to look back at the figure, but to no avail. The other persons face was obscured and difficult to make out in the memory. It was like someone pointed a kaleidoscope at her and distorted most of her features. The only indication to her sex being the skirt she wore. He watched as his memory-self mouthed the words 'Faster! Faster!'. Why was he running? Who was he running with?

He watched as the two went barreling through a door, and then stopped. The girl behind him was shuddering now. She tried to pull him, lead him away from the room they entered, but his memory self refused to move. Where was he now? Why wasn't he listening to the other person? What was he looking at?

He couldn't hear anything; it was like watching a silent movie. He could only feel as the events happened, the coldness of the sweat dripping from his brow, the burning in his chest from running, the tugging feeling from the girl enveloping his hand.

The biggest feeling he had though, was anger. He was angry… no, he was pissed. It felt like he was going to lash out at the first person who spoke to him. His memory self moved his lips again, speaking to someone. He figured it was the girl behind him, since she stopped her fidgeting after he spoke.

"_What the hell is going on!?" _He thought, upset that nothing was making any sort of sense.

Ivan was beyond confused, a feeling he was starting to get really tired with. He was still trying to come to grips with being in some unfamiliar world, and now this? Was this his brain trying to fill him in on all the important details he had forgotten?

Suddenly, his memory self stiffened. _"What am I looking at?"_ He scanned the space his memory self was looking but the scene was the same as the figure he was holding hands with. A mesh of mismatched geometric shapes. He squinted in a desperate attempt to see what was going on, hoping the shapes would align themselves correctly.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the cluster. He wore a large hooded cloak? No… not a cloak… more like a long black hooded trench coat. His face was obscured in the darkness of the hood, but his expressions were all still somehow visible. He looked as though he had just finished a sentence which caused his memory self to shudder.

"_So this is who I was talking to?"_ He looked on in curiosity. Who was this, why did they come here, why am I so angry at this person? All of these thoughts shuffled and danced in his mind all desperately looking for someone to answer them. He tried closing his eyes, he tried to think about what was happening and try and piece together an idea. But it was no use; he had no eye lids to shut. He couldn't just fall into a deep thought. He was already IN his own mind.

He watched on as his memory self and the hooded figure had what he figured to be a heated conversation. He couldn't even guess what they were saying. The only clues he got where in the form of small bursts of rage that welled within him after the figure spoke. It wasn't until the hooded man turned and reached behind a nearby desk, did his emotions shift from anger to fear.

He quickly shot the reaching hand towards his memory self after finishing his search, an audible _tink _sounding afterward. Ivan looked towards the sound, wondering why he could hear the object at all. The fear he was feeling was slowly washing away as his memory self stared at the object. His memory self looked downward towards it, his eyes visibly welling with tears. He felt like the world had been dropped on him and the pressure was breaking him into a million pieces.

His memory self released the girl behind him and dropped to his knees afterward, never taking his gaze from the object. He reached forward and slowly scooped it into his hand. He felt like he was trembling, like he was about to break any second. He looked towards his memory self's hand to get a closer look.

It was the ring. The ring that he just pulled from his pocket, the very same one. A mental cord broke and he could feel the flood gates thrusting open. He could feel the burning sensation of his salty tears rushing down his face and feel his body clench as he sobbed. What happened? What did the figure say? What does this mean?

Ivan had many more questions and all he got in response were these unwanted feelings of anguish and pain. Whatever had just happened to him, may quite literally have been the most painful things he had ever experienced. It was then that he heard another sound amongst the sea of silence he stood in.

"She's dead Mr. Jagger; you have no one to blame but yourself…"

* * *

The sound of the ring hitting the floor. That's about all Cyborg heard before he was sent into a dead sprint towards his now cardiac arrest friend. "IVAN!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, reaching out to him as he approached.

Ivan's body was on the bed, but only just. He laid adjacent to the head rest and his feet were still on the floor. He didn't move or make a sound. He was clearly not breathing, and his skin was slowly losing heat. Cyborg was in a panic. Just a few minutes ago the guy was fit enough to run a marathon. But now, he was lying there in the bed looking like he did just the other night. He looked like he was just barely clinging to life and was just about to fall to the wrong side of that thin line.

"Don't you die on me kid!" Cyborg didn't have time to call the others, he had to act. He was a Titan, and as his job description stated, he needed to save this guys life. He quickly placed him on the hospital bed properly and took off to grab the defibrillator and a 20 milligram dose of adrenaline. He tossed the syringe to the bed side, hoping to not have to use it.

He then grabbed the two metal plates after turning a series of switches on the machine. Rubbing the two metal surfaces together he got the defibrillator ready. "CLEAR!" With a yell he placed the metal plates down producing a shock and causing Ivan's body to jump due to the electrical stimulation.

He placed he glanced towards his wrist and saw no changes in his heartbeat with his audio scanner. His face scrunched and he rubbed the plates together again. "CLEAR!" Ivan's body jumped again, but there was no change in his heart beat. He did this twice more before tossing the plates at a nearby wall causing small dents as they smashed into it.

"DARN IT IVAN!" He then reached for the syringe that laid nestled to Ivan's ribcage. With a swift movement he plucked off the needles cap and tossed it to the side. He took careful aim at his chest scanning his arm before he injected the boy. No visible changes, he was technically still dying if not dead.

The metal man was starting to shake; he had to grab his wrist to keep himself from dropping the syringe. He closed his eyes tightly, and steeled his resolve. His arm rose slightly higher, angling for the impending strike. And with a swift movement, he plunged the needle deep into the boy's chest… or at least he tried.

His eyes widened in surprise as the needle tip casually flipped pass his face. He blinked several times; unsure of what had just happened. He slowly brought the needle up scanning it to make certain what he thought just happened wasn't just an optical illusion. The syringe was intact, but the actual needle had broken off. He quickly looked backward to find the needle tip. When his eyes found the metallic shine of the tip as it rolled gently across the floor, he nearly lost it. He quickly looked back towards Ivan's face, a worried expression quickly taking over his previous fear.

His eyes were still closed; he still looked to be in cardiac arrest. He looked towards the syringe, then back at Ivan, confusion covering his face. _"Did… did he just break a syringe? With his SKIN?" _The metal man pondered. He quickly set off to grab two more shots of adrenaline and tried to recreate the scene.

Grabbing the needle cover with his teeth, he pulled off one of the tops and spit the lid towards the floor afterwards. He slowly inched the needle down, taking more care then his previously frantic state. This time, the syringe went in, but only slightly. It was like his skin was resisting. He applied pressure as he sat looming over the dying boy, trying to push the needle in. But it was extremely difficult. He got up from the seat throwing the chair he sat on to the floor in the process. He put his weight into the thrust, but only managed a slight drop. It was barely in at all, which caused Cyborg to stare in disbelief.

He let go of the syringe and watched as it sat perfectly straight, needle side down. Cyborg couldn't fathom how his skin was so tough; he was supposed to be a human according to what he said earlier. The mental image of the carbon atoms within his body slowly crept into his mind. _"Is his skin getting harder? I was able to to put a syringe in him just last night!"_ He thought.

Unexpectedly, Ivan's eyes shot open, consequently causing Cyborg to jump in surprise. He leaned upwards noticing the syringe in his body, batting it away after taking notice to it. It fell to the ground producing several _clinks _and _clanks_ as it bounced to a halt. His breathing was erratic and he shook feverishly.

"Dude! A-Are you ok?" Cyborg was walking cautiously towards the boy now, trying not to set off any sort of residual attacks. His arms were outstretched and he hunched his form in his attempt to be cautious. Ivan looked towards the Titan, his eyes lightly darting as he attempted to fix his gaze on the metal man. When they finally locked he shifted his weight off the bed, falling top-half-first towards the floor.

Cyborg closed the remaining gap between the two and reached down to gently lift him to a sitting position. "Whoa whoa whoa man! Be careful, you were just in cardiac arrest a couple minutes ago!" Cyborg looked worriedly into Ivan's eyes, noting that they looked frightened. Ivan stared absentmindedly behind him, his previous memory still vivid in his mind.

"…Where is he…" He muttered under his breath.

Cyborg frowned and looked at Ivan with confused eyes, "Where's who?"

Ivan kept his gaze forward, only slightly shifting his eyes to look towards the Cybernetic Titan. "…the hooded man…"

* * *

**BUM BUM BUM BUUUUUUM! The plot thickens! **

**Welp, I can clearly state that today, the inspiration bug bit the hell outta me, cause' I literally shot this chapter out in the last hour or so :D …**

**Everyone seems to be getting some kind of one on one time with Ivan, so it was Cyborgs turn today! Wonder who the hooded man is, I wonder what the ring means? All these 'diamond' references are pretty interesting too huh? (^.^)**

**Seeing as the weekend is approaching I may not be able to get out another chapter till next week (or if you're lucky and I get the inspiration bug tomorrow!) ****so you may have to endure for a bit, sowwy!**

**Until next time, Rate and Review and I'll try and get chapter 8 up ASAP!**


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